Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research

This study shows that the doublesex gene is essential for female-specific flight and hearing traits in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes by regulating gene expression in thoraces and ears.

This study investigates the age- and sex-specific role of dArhgef10 in locomotor behavior in Drosophila, finding it critical in neuronal function, particularly in aged females.

The paper investigates how male courtship plasticity in Drosophila melanogaster depends on female behavioral cues rather than pheromones, using a Zimbabwe genotype with disrupted pheromone production.

The paper compares laboratory and wild Drosophila sechellia to assess if lab strains retain specialization phenotypes from their natural environment.

The paper investigates how the Drosophila larval mushroom body integrates left and right olfactory information and balances lateralized sensing with interhemispheric integration.

The paper uses a Drosophila connectome to analyze visual pathway organization, revealing multi-layered, functionally interpretable pathways that transform visual input into perceptual representations.

The paper compares whole-brain neural activity between sexes of C. elegans in response to various chemical stimuli, finding widespread sexual dimorphism in sensory neurons.

This paper identifies the motor pattern of rolling escape locomotion in Drosophila larvae by analyzing muscle activation sequences during optogenetically triggered rolling.

The paper presents the complete connectome of the Drosophila male central nervous system and compares it to the female connectome, identifying sex-specific and dimorphic neuronal types.

This study shows that a yeast prion modulates host physiology in Drosophila by affecting cold tolerance and locomotion through gut-brain signaling pathways.

The paper maps serotonin autoreceptor expression in Drosophila using single-cell sequencing and genetic labeling, identifying 5-HT2A and 5-HT7 in serotonergic neurons.

The paper identifies and characterizes sexually dimorphic neuron networks in Drosophila that regulate social behaviors, revealing their connectivity and distinct functional roles.

The paper quantifies the morphology of T4 and T5 neuron dendrites in Drosophila to determine if their directional orientation arises from subtype-specific or shared mechanisms.

The paper examines how honey bees encode isopentyl acetate alarm pheromone signals in the antennal lobe using electrophysiological and morphological methods.

The paper identifies brain-specific transcription factors in insect neuroblasts, revealing a distinct regulatory program for the insect brain compared to the posterior CNS.

This study identifies two evolutionary strategies in Drosophila species for overcoming physical barriers to oviposition, showing niche specialization in D. suzukii and niche expansion in D. immigrans.

This study shows C. elegans uses chromoprotein photosensitization and bacterial metabolic cues to prefer red over blue food, independent of light and photoreceptors.

This study maps internal sensory circuits in Drosophila's pharynx and gut using the FAFB connectome, revealing distinct axonal projections and connections to motor and endocrine systems.

The paper investigates the combinatorial expression of Beat and Side genes in Drosophila olfactory circuits and their role in synaptic specificity and development.

This study investigates the ligand binding kinetics, thermodynamics, and gating of the insect odorant receptor MhOR5 using molecular dynamics simulations, revealing key structural determinants and differences in ligand behavior.

The paper identifies the SIFamide circuit in Drosophila as the functional homolog of the mammalian vagus nerve, showing its role in integrating metabolic and reproductive signals.

This study shows that nutritional changes affect sleep in Drosophila larvae and adults through CCHamide-1 signaling and glucose metabolism, independent of clock-arousal connectivity.

This study identifies a new role for NHR-49 in promoting attractive chemotaxis in C. elegans, independent of its known role in fatty acid metabolism.

This study identifies SNRK as essential for sleep regulation in Drosophila, showing that its loss causes severe sleep loss, which is rescued by neuronal SNRK expression or nicotinic acetylcholine receptor blockade.

This study shows that fly halteres function as a gyrocompass, maintaining heading accuracy during rapid flight turns by integrating inertial measurements with efference copy signals.

This study identifies genetic variants associated with cocaine consumption and preference in Drosophila melanogaster, revealing potential human orthologs linked to substance use disorders.

In Drosophila larvae, ventral oblique (VO) muscles drive protopodium folding, and a tri-segmental A27h–A18b3–A06c premotor excitation-inhibition motif restricts their activation to a late, forward-specific window.

This study investigates the structural and functional mechanisms of insect olfactory receptor assembly and gating using cryo-EM and functional analyses.

This study identifies and characterizes motor neurons controlling antennal movement in Drosophila, revealing their functional roles in sensory positioning.

This paper describes optogenetic methods to study neural circuits controlling biting behavior in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, using behavioral assays and machine vision for quantification.